We recently showed you how to make an authentic red curry paste right in your own kitchen using essentially just a mortar and pestle. Once you’ve made this flavorful paste, you can use it in a variety of dishes, like this amazing red curry chicken recipe.

For review, here is the homemade red curry paste recipe:

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Homemade Red Curry Paste

You can make DIY Thai red curry just to your liking – but you'll need all the ingredients first. Learn how to use homemade red curry paste in a flavorful chicken recipe!

Prep Time30

Equipment

mortar and pestle
small skillet

Ingredients

8 Dried red chilies (such as red spur, guajillo or Thai chili)*

3 teaspoon White peppercorns
1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
5-7 Garlic cloves
1 Tablespoon Chopped cilantro stems
4-5 inches Lemon grass (sliced)
2 Medium-size shallots
½ Lime zest
¼ – 1 teaspoon Shrimp paste
galangal (thumbsize piece)
salt (to taste)

Instructions

Heat a skillet to medium heat. Toast coriander, white pepper and cumin for 3 – 4 minutes until fragrant.
Place the toasted coriander, white pepper and cumin in a mortar and grind into a paste.
Add chilies on top and grind again into a paste, about 5 – 10 minutes. Add salt to taste, about ¼ teaspoon. If the mixture is too dry add a bit of water, a few drops at a time.

Next, rough chop the garlic and shallots. Add the garlic, shallots, lemongrass, cilantro stems, lime zest and (optional) galangal and grind again into a paste. You may need to grind your ingredients for 10 minutes or so.
Finally, once your mixture looks like tomato paste, add some shrimp paste, a little bit at a time, to taste. Store your red curry for up to two weeks in the refrigerator.

That red curry chicken recipe makes about 1 cup of red curry paste.

To use it to make an easy Thai chicken dish, you’ll need to gather the following ingredients:

1 cup homemade red curry paste
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 can coconut milk
2 – 4 Tablespoons fish sauce
3 – 4 cup chicken stock
1 sweet potato (1 cup cubed with about 1/2 inch cubes)
2 chicken breasts (can be sliced)
1 red pepper
Thai Basil
1 Tablespoon sugar

How to Make Authentic Red Curry Chicken

Dry brine the chicken breasts by coating with salt and keeping in the refrigerator for 4 hour or overnight.

Prep your ingredients by first heating the vegetable oil in a large stock pot on medium heat. Add curry paste and cook about 3 – 5 minutes or until it darkens and slightly sticks to the pan.

De-glaze the pan by adding coconut milk – about half the can.

Reduce the mixture by heating on medium heat another 5 – 10 minutes. Add the rest of the coconut milk and chicken stock. Bring to a boil then simmer.

Add chicken and sweet potatoes. Continue to simmer until potatoes are soft. (Test softness by using the fork test.)

Add 2 Tablespoons of fish sauce, chopped red peppers and sugar.

Check broth and adjust for taste using fish sauce (for saltiness) or sugar.

The dish is done when the chicken and potatoes are cooked (about 15 minutes).

Remove from heat and add a handful of Thai basil, ripped up.

Serve over white rice with a garnish of Thai basil.

Tip: You can mix up your vegetables! For example, you can substitute squash for the sweet potato or add green beans. Just time your vegetables to cook well in the simmering broth.

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